In my research on the web I came across a number of sites that would sell me one here in South Africa. I checked www.PriceCheck.co.za and a few came back with prices varying by between 20-50% more than the RRP from Amazon.

AmazonSouthAfrica.co.za is one such site. This site has nothing to do with Amazon and I am amazed that Amazon has not shut them down yet. They are trying to look like Amazon and also suggest that you cannot buy the Kindle direct from Amazon here in South Africa. This is simply not true. They are selling the Kindle for R2,195.00. Read on and see how that is so wrong.

So in South Africa there is only one way that you should entertain buying a Kindle in this country – and that’s from Amazon.com. They have it all wrapped up, its seamless, cost effective and in fact cheaper than all the sites in South Africa that claim you can’t buy direct from the US or UK!

One of the great advantages right now of course is the foreign exchange rate. Have you seen the strong South African Rand (ZAR) lately! Wow, it’s making buying from overseas a pleasure. The other great advantage is that Amazon.com clears the device through customs for you and they just add the fee (“Import Fees Deposit” on the screen shot above) of USD$29.11 to the total bill for you.

This is an advantage as you know upfront what you are going to be paying and you haven’t got to trek off to the back of beyond (Parow - if you live in Cape Town) to collect your goods from the Post Office import depot with cash in hand and based on a figure that they seem to make up on the spot. Yes I have been through this before.

Delivery would have taken about 5 business days by the time the device arrives; Which again is fantastic considering that it’s shipping from the USA and they are only charging USD$20.98 for the shipping. As a comparison I ordered a book from Amazon.com a few weeks before I decided to buy the Kindle and the book cost me more to ship and is taking 21 business days to arrive in Cape Town...go figure.

So all in all the landed cost of my brand new 6” Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device, with Free 3G + Wi-Fi in Rands is R1,657,16. Tell me that’s not a great deal? So forget the sites that say: you can’t order a Kindle from overseas in South Africa, and that you will get hit by import duties and that their prices are cheaper – its rubbish – buy direct from Amazon.com.Postscript 28th December 2012 - Just a reminder you need to order from Amazon.com and not Amazon.co.uk to get your delivery to South Africa. I have had many queries about this point. Happy Kindling :)Postscript 7th January 2013 - I have discovered through various people telling me so and now through my own experience that at this time you cannot purchase the new Kindle Paperwhite from Amazon.com for shipping to South Africa. For more info read my post on the Kindle Paperwhite.

Postscript 17th January 2013 - To make it easier - here is the link to the Internationally Delivered Kindle on Amazon.com - this will enable you to ship to South Africa

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